Faculty of Physics and Astronomy

PROF. DR. HENDRIK HILDEBRANDT, OBSERVATIONAL COSMOLOGY, ASTRONOMICAL INSTITUTE

The research in our group is focussed on the exploitation of wide-field imaging surveys to study the effect of weak gravitational lensing of the large-scale structure of the Universe. This unique cosmological probe reveals the sta-tistical properties and evolution of the matter density field, which is described by the theory of cosmic structure formation. Precise measurements of this so-called cosmic shear effect constrain the values of important cosmologi-cal parameters like the total matter density and the amplitude of the power spectrum (i.e. the amount of clustering of matter). The gravitational lensing effect is inherently sensitive to all forms of matter and hence uniquely reveals (or makes visible) dark matter structures that dominate the matter budget of the Universe. Furthermore, their growth is influenced by the physical nature of the mysterious dark energy. In this way, our research is a direct window to study the dark Universe and extend our understanding at this very edge of our knowledge.

Keywords: Cosmology, Gravitational Lensing, Cosmic Shear, Wide-Field Imaging Surveys, Photometric Reds

Webpage: Astronomical Institute